Giants earn big win with passing of Proposition D

SAN FRANCISCO -- The overwhelming victory that voters gave the Giants in Tuesday's municipal election guaranteed that the area surrounding AT&T Park will change dramatically in years to come.

The passage of Proposition D, which was sponsored by the Giants, increased height limits on waterfront structures. This will allow the Giants to completely transform what is now known as Parking Lot A into a multi-use area featuring residences, restaurants and recreational opportunities that the team hopes will enhance the ballpark experience.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The overwhelming victory that voters gave the Giants in Tuesday's municipal election guaranteed that the area surrounding AT&T Park will change dramatically in years to come.

The passage of Proposition D, which was sponsored by the Giants, increased height limits on waterfront structures. This will allow the Giants to completely transform what is now known as Parking Lot A into a multi-use area featuring residences, restaurants and recreational opportunities that the team hopes will enhance the ballpark experience.

Proposition D received 73.4 percent of the vote and won in each of the city's precincts. Significantly, as Giants senior vice president of communications Staci Slaughter pointed out Wednesday, the measure exceeded 70 percent of the vote in the Mission Bay and South Beach neighborhoods, which are the areas most affected by the development due to their proximity to the ballpark.

"This is a really significant step, because it showed that voters want a project of this type on the property," Slaughter said.

Slaughter noted that the proposition's margin of victory also reflected more than eight years of community outreach conducted by Giants officials, who then tried to tailor their plan to meet public approval.

Fans will notice little or no change initially while the Mission Rock project -- as it is known -- undergoes its required environmental impact evaluation. Even after ground is broken, construction must proceed gradually, since Lot A is among the few sources of public parking around the ballpark.

Ultimately, the vanished parking spaces will be replaced by a high-rise structure accommodating 2,300 cars and an underground lot that will hold 700 vehicles.

The area across McCovey Cove from the ballpark will include the new home of the Anchor Brewing Company as well as eight acres of parks and open space.

Also in the plans is a rental-housing facility in which 40 percent of the units are expected to be offered to residents with lower- and middle-income backgrounds -- according to northern California's exorbitant pricing scales.